Sunday Afternoon Falcon Watch – 12-21-14
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Winter Solstice! First day of winter. More importantly, the days will start to get longer after today! Woohoo! It was 34 degrees (F) during my watch and the sun was shining through most of it.
I made my normal weekend checks at the west end of Kodak Park and the BS locations. No falcons seen or heard at either.
When I arrived downtown, it took me awhile to find Beauty and Dot.ca. It wasn’t until I stopped on the Andrews St Bridge that I finally found both of them on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT). They were both on top arms.
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Starlings and pigeons were continuously moving about below Beauty and Dot.ca. They were watching their every move. A large flock of Starlings landed on the bottom arm and platform.
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After awhile, first Dot.ca then Beauty took off heading south.
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Five minutes later, they were both back on the Frontier Communication Tower. This time Dot.ca was on the top arm and Beauty was on the south east box below the platform.
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Dot.ca left and Beauty remained on the SE box. I was joined by fellow watcher Kathy O. We were parked in front of City Hall. While we were chatting, Beauty left and Dot.ca returned, landing on the 2nd arm down. This is where we left him, ending our downtown falcon watch.
On my way home, I stopped at Maplewood Park (across the river and a little north of Seneca Towers). From there, I could see one falcon on the west side, near the south end of the building, on a short pipe or antenna. The same location as yesterday. I was too far away to identify this falcon.
Russell Station was my last stop and again there were no falcons seen at this location. Lake Ontario was calm for a 2nd day in a row. It was a nice ending to my weekend falcon watches!
